Sumerian Addenda · Signs

𒂼AMA · [ama] · mother

mother

Where it comes from

Ama is mother — in the rosters a parent, in the hymns a title of the great goddesses: ama kalam-ma, “mother of the Land”; ama diŋir-re-ne, “mother of the gods.” A word so old it sounds the same in half the world’s nurseries.

How to remember it

Mother is the word children everywhere say first — ama — and the sign keeps it: a star-marked enclosure, the household with its hearth. Where a goddess mothers a whole country, this sign carries the title.

In the wild

Piece by piece:

• ama — mother
• diŋir-re-ne — of the gods
• -ra — for her

Ninhursag’s proudest title, opening a temple’s dedication. The line is read whole in 102’s chapter 12.